Using gardening as a metaphor for living... This blog is how some plants & flowers, creepy things, and the dead brought me back to life.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

... wintering and saying No...

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

~ Anthony J. D'Angelo

That isn't snow but pellets of ice!

While Washington DC is getting hammered with snow, we have ice pellets here in Ashland, VA.

I’ve been complaining about the weather a great deal lately because, darn it, it is March in Virginia and that means open-toe shoes and digging in the dirt. Unfortunately, Mother Nature has a different plan which always leads me to Joseph Campbell’s, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”

While slightly dramatic considering this is just a snow/ ice pellet fall, I have been trying to live in the now and appreciate what I do have (and perhaps appreciate that we do not have what Boston has :-/ ). Now there are big flakes falling outside my window but I am mostly warm inside (I could put on some socks). I have food and supplies. I have plenty of works… better yet, I have books! I could even do my nails. I have many choices.

A more pleasant view from my office window earlier this week.

Of course, this transfers to life. Lately I’ve felt that I’ve been living under a winter cloud. This snow day has brought a great deal of reflection (read that as a ray of sunshine) because I woke to texts from a friend/colleague. We’re both experiencing the crazy busy overworked feelings but after reading a few articles and a good texting chat, I think we’re both seeing that sometimes we take on too much because heck, we’re curious people who enjoy the opportunities that are presented to us. We’re also learning the value of saying No in a positive way. Saying No and removing some of our responsibilities doesn’t make us less productive academics; it makes us healthy. We must have balance… and at least in this region, we do have seasons. In life that means that sometimes we are going to overextend. But then, it also means that we're going to pull ourselves out of some situations so that we can stop doing and actually BE!

So for now, I'm going to go grab a book, get under my Jack Skellington snuggie and appreciate the fact that I don't drive a snowplow for a living.